Fifty-bed care home for Towcester is given approval despite residents’ concerns

Proposed new care home site in Water Lane, Towcester.'140123M-B050

Published:12:53Saturday 25 January 2014

Plans for a new Towcester town centre care home have been approved despite objections from residents and some councillors.

South Northants Council’s development control committee agreed the application for a care home on Water Lane on Thursday, January 16.

Clayson Country Homes Ltd originally submitted the plans for the two-and-a-half storey 50-bed care home in March 2013. It was first considered by the committee in June, but was deferred pending further information.

At that stage, officers raised concerns about the size and scale of building work and potential impact the development would have on residents and the local environment.

The plans for the 24-hour intensive nursing care home has met with opposition from nearby residents with 11 letters of objection sent to SNC.

The Northants County councillor for Towcester, Chris Lofts, has also objected. Towcester Town Council objected to the plans over concerns it could be overdevelopment of the site, inadequate parking facilities for staff and visitors and the lack of rear access for residents of Richmond Road to their properties.

Alister Whitmore, of Richmond Road, said: “We are very disappointed with the outcome because despite the reservations of planners, they still managed to get approval.

“We believe it will wreck the environment around here, but no one knows what it will actually be like until it is built and by then it will be too late.”